Resilient wheel



Apg, 51 w23.

' il).q O. HOBSON -RES LIENT WHEEL Filed Dec. 8 1921 "E fi i Y l freuen 07: O60; )L1/056071, y .A orfzeg.

i'rEujs'rATEs PAraT-orri 'OT 0. HOBSON, 0F 'VINTON, IOWA.

BESIMENT WHEEL.

Application led December 1921. Serial No. 520,907. i

To all 'whom z't may concem.'

Be it known that l, OTA O. HoBsoN, a citi zen of the United Statesof America, and aresident of Vinton, Benton. County,l[owa, 4have invented certain newand useful llmf proveme'nts in Resilient Wheel-s, of-which the following isa specification..

My invention relates" to improvements in resilient connectionsl between spaced elements, and particularly to resilient carry ing-wheels of vehicles and resilient spokes thereof, and the object of my improvement 1s to employ in any such structures connections or spokes as the case may be, made up of elastic laminas, .the lamineevof each connection or spoke being of equal length thus glving maximum .strength for side thrust, and the ends of alll laminae of each connection or `spoke being mounted within -one of said elements in a slidable way and thus allowing for limited relative `1novements upon' each other, and thereby giving thel structure the maximum resiliency for sustaining loads or stresses vof any kind. f

rllhis object' ll have accomplished by the means which are hereinafter described and claimed, and whichare illustrated inthe ac-v companying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation with parts sectioned or broken away, of a Wheel provided with resilient laminated spokes according to my invention, and Fig. 2 is a fragmental section on a slightly` larger scale, Figs.'.3, 4 and 5 are fragmental side elevations 4of resilient wheels of this typeshowing different modifications in themountings of the spoke ends.

Similar numerals of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views. l

While my invention in principle, may be used in any desired construction where it may be applicable, l have illustrated it as used in a resilient carrying-wheel of a vehicle such as that of a motor car.

Fig. 1 shows such awheel having a channeled felly 7 onto which may be olted or pressed a rim carrying a solid rubber tire 8.

The wheel has the hollow hub l which is positioned .concentrically within said felly when'not flexed, and this hub has a plul.rality of radial recesses 3 on one face,the re- ."cesses opening at their outer ends and also opening outwardly Ilaterally to seat the 1n- Wardly directed extremities of spokes 4. The spoke ends may be rigidly secured wlthin said Arecesses by any desired means. As

showin, an annular face-plate 2 is mounted upon the recessed face of said hub concentrically to cover said spoke ends in contact -f therewith and with the adj acentface of the hub, and is securedl to the hubby means ot bolts 6. In order to interlock the spoke ends with the hub, the outer edges of the spokes 4 have cross notches 5 to aline with a concentric annular groove 15 in the hub face, said groove and notches seating a locking-ring 16 which may be of a cross-sectional shape suitable for the purpose. lit will be seen that the plate 2 compressingly interlocks the ring 16 to said spokes and hub rigidly, but that.

y length relatively movable bars or laminae for a purpose to be described.

ln the modification illustrated in Fig. 3,

the outer ends of the laminated spokes 4 are 1 bolted at 10 between bridges 9 connecting side walls of channel felly while their inner ends are sliding between two rollers 19 on radially adjustable pintles 20 set in slots 18 mounted within the hub 1. Aln the modification shown in Fig. 4, the inner end of each laminatedspoke is secured by means of the bolt 12 in a U-shape shackle 23 which has a pivot bolt connection 22 with the hub 1, while their outer ends are sliding' between ball-bearings 21 mounted within the telly 7.

lnthe modification shown in lli g. 5, the inner ends are locked in the hub 1 as shown in Fig. l, while their outer ends are sliding between two rollers 24 adj ustably, on pintles 25 seated in radial slots 26 within the felly 7.

Either of the constructions illustrated supplies a load bearing wheel of considerable resiliency, as the laminated spokes 4 have maximum elasticity relative to their cross sectional areas. This increased resiliency is due to the fact that each spoke has one end slidably mounted with the laminas free to move upon each other longitudinally to a limited extent when the spoke as awhole is bent under Aa load or strain.

rlhe pivotal connection of each spoke to lll) the hub as shown in Fig, 4, or spoke sliding between adjustable rollers as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, allow somewhat freer movement to the spokes in the plane of the Wheel.

Details of the huh and felly connections to the spokes may be varied otherwise than as shown.

' As the laminae of each spoke are of equal or approximately equal lengths, the spoke is of the same cross sectional strength throuzgfhout7 and its extremities are fully and securely mounted and held., In case of the breakage or Wearing lout of a spoke or any of its laminae, it may be quickly and separately demounted Without removing others Having described` my invention, what I anti-frieten roller mounted rotatably and between each pair of ad]l aoent spokes at their loose ends and contacting with both of them. Signed at Waterloo, owa, this 25th day of N ov.9 19Q-L OTA O. HOBSON. 

